The Musketeers confirmed for second series

Posted on 09/02/2014

4 min read

A second series of BBC One’s fresh and contemporary take on the classic Alexandre Dumas characters has been commissioned following an impressive launch. With a consolidated audience of 9.3 million for episode one of The Musketeers, this makes it the BBC’s biggest newdrama launch since Call The Midwife.

Set on the streets of 17th-century Paris where law and order is more an idea than reality, the series follows The Musketeers who are far more than King Louis XIII’s personal bodyguards, but ultimately stand resolutely for social justice: for honour, for valour, for love and for the thrill of it.

The Musketeers has proved a successful addition to BBC One’s line-up with the first three episodes averaging 6.3 million viewers in the overnight ratings.

Charlotte Moore, Controller, BBC One, says: “Drama in 2014 has got off to a great start on BBC One and The Musketeers has really brought something fresh and new to the channel. I can’t wait to see how things will develop in the next series.”

The current 10-part series stars Luke Pasqualino (Skins, The Borgias) as D’Artagnan alongside The Musketeers, Tom Burke (Great Expectations, The Hour) as Athos, Santiago Cabrera (Merlin, Heroes) as Aramis and Howard Charles (Royal Shakespeare Company) as Porthos. Together they are a crack-team of highly trained soldiers. All four cast will return in series two.

Kate Harwood, Head of Drama England at BBC Drama Production, says: “I am delighted that Jessica Pope, Adrian Hodges, Colin Wratten and their team are able to go back to 17th-century Paris, round up those superb Musketeers and fight some more good fights for the BBC One audience.”

Creator Adrian Hodges says: “I’m completely thrilled to be able to continue the journey we have begun on The Musketeers. Writing and helping produce the show has been one of the greatest challenges and joys of my professional life.”

With a further seven episodes of the Sunday night 9.00pm drama still to come, viewers can expect to see a stellar guest cast including JJ Field, Vincent Regan, Ashley Walters, Amy Nuttall, Tara Fitzgerald, Annabelle Wallis, Zoe Tapper, Vinnie Jones and Sean Pertwee.

Created by Adrian Hodges, this thrilling series is made by BBCDrama Production and co-produced by BBC WorldWide and BBC America. Jessica Pope is the BBC executive producer, Adrian Hodges is an executive producer and lead writer, and Colin Wratten is producer.